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Java Java Data Structures - Retired Organizing Data Arrays

Posted by Adiv Abramson
Adiv Abramson
6,919 Points

Why is the sort() a static method instead of an instance method?

Why do we call the sort method off of the Arrays class instead of off of an array object, like myarray.sort()?

Also, is there a way to reset an array variable so that it has zero elements? Is there a way to destroy it so that myarray == null?

Strings are immutable in Java and so are arrays. If so, then why is the following operation legal:

mystring = "ABC"; mystring += "DEF";

yet the following operation is not

String[] myarray = {"A", "B", "C"}; myarray += "D";

If both data types are immutable shouldn't String reference types be subjected to the same type of workarounds that array reference types are? If with Strings Java creates a new object and assigns it to the reference, leaving the original object available for garbage collection, why doesn't it do that for arrays as well?

Thanks

1 Answer

Danial Goodwin
Danial Goodwin
13,247 Points

Being mutable or immutable just means if an object can change or not; It's not about using any operators.

Basically, the reason you can't do that operation on arrays is because of the language design. Strings were designed to be "added" together, and arrays weren't. (In some other languages, it is possible to use the plus sign to append to arrays.) Another way to put it, Strings are more of a "first-class citizen" for Java whereas Arrays are not.

The same "language design" reason applies to why Java uses static Arrays.sort(myArray) instead of instance of myArray.sort(). Different language designers choose to design languages in different ways. One possible reason for the Java designers is that sort() isn't always necessary for arrays so they didn't want to force developers to always make sure that it is accurately implemented.

To "destroy" an array in Java, you just have to set it to null, like myArray = null. Then, once the variable falls out of scope, it will be garbage collected. To make a basic array variable have zero elements, you can either iterate through all and set each element to null. Or, you can just assign the array variable to a new array variable and have the old array garbage collected. If you are using a Collection, like List or ArrayList, then you can do (myArrayList.clear())[https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/util/ArrayList.html#clear--] to remove all elements.